Cultural heritage preservation efforts in Malaysia: A survey

Abstract

Malaysia, just like its neighbouring countries in the region, has a rich and diverse culture and heritage treasures. What makes Malaysia more unique is its diversity as a multi-racial and multicultural country. These cultural heritages might become lost and extinct without any efforts in preserving and safeguarding due to modernization, assimilation, and globalization. We present an overview of different cultural heritage in Malaysia and available efforts to preserve these treasures found from literature. Digital preservation efforts that computer graphics, media scientists and practitioners could offer as alternatives in preservation of culture and heritage preservation will also be included in this paper.

Towards Digital Preservation of Cultural Heritage: Exploring Serious Games for Songket Tradition

“…Cultural heritage is a treasure that has been or is owned by a person or a group of societies or people who collectively share responsibilities for protection and retention. Cultural heritage symbolizes all civilizations' spiritual and intellectual wealth [11]. The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, also known as UNESCO, popularized "cultural heritage" in the middle of the 20th century.…”

“…Heritage can be defined as a valuable thing inherited from previous generations that will be inherited by future generations [12]. Cultural heritage is divided into two categories, which are tangible and intangible [11]. Physical artifacts, buildings, and other items having cultural significance that are valued and deserving of preservation within a specific community or society are referred to as tangible cultural heritage [12].…”

“…It is a treasure that has been or is being owned by a person or a group of society or people who collectively share responsibilities for protecting and retaining that treasure. To summarize, cultural heritage can be depicted as the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society inherited from past generations, maintained in the present, and presented for future generations [11].…”

“…As stated in the Malaysia National Heritage Act, 2005 (Act 645), preservation is an act that aims to stop further deterioration, decay, or obsolete conditions of buildings, monuments, and sites [12]. United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has also established working committees and manuals to ensure that cultural heritage worldwide receives proper protection and attention to preserve its originality [11]. Some innovations have also been identified in Songket weaving, which are modern motifs in Songket weaving [15].…”

Bibliometric analysis on the implementation digitization technologies in cultural heritage in Malaysia

“…Malaysian craftsmen are highly artistic and skilful to transform the traditional design elements into unique and aesthetically pleasing pieces which carry deeper philosophical and sacred meanings (Shuaib & Enoch, 2013). Malaysia had 12 tangible and intangible cultural heritage assets that have been awarded by international bodies such as United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) (Suaib et al, 2020). Recently, songket is the latest and become the sixth National Heritage recognized by UNESCO in intangible cultural heritage.…”